(Ascendant,
Virgo; MC, Gemini; Sun conjunct Neptune in Aries; Moon and Uranus in
Cancer; Mercury in Pisces with Mars conjunct Jupiter, both in Pisces;
Venus and Pluto in Taurus; Saturn in Sagittarius) If the birth occurred
at 5:20 PM, LMT, Libra would be the Ascending Sign.
This would not be without reason, because both relationship and the
legal profession (Rostand was originally a
lawyer) would be emphasized.

Edmond
Rostand was a French poet and playwright best
known for his wonderful play, Cyrano de Bergerac, an ultra-romantic
story of great, unselfish devotion and unrequited love.

There
was, in fact, a real Cyrano de Bergerac born in Perigord, France,
March 6, 1620. There
are interesting parallels between Rostand’s
chart and that of the actual Cyrano. (Speculative Ascendant, Leo; Speculative
MC, Taurus conjunct Pluto in Taurus; Sun in Pisces, with Chiron conjunct
Ceres and Pallas also in Pisces; Moon and Jupiter conjunct in Aries,
with Venus and Mars also conjunct in Aries; Mercury in Aquarius; Saturn
in Gemini; Uranus in Cancer; Neptune in Libra)

It
is clear from Edmond Rostand’s horoscope that
he (despite his pursuits as a lawyer and journalist) was a true romantic,
just like his leading character. His Aries Sun is conjunct with sixth
ray Neptune in the seventh house of relationships. Neptune, further, is the veiled esoteric ruler of the Virgo Ascendant,
and so, is connected with the energy of Christ-love.

The
great love of the hero, Cyrano, for Roxanne, was deep, true, abiding
and sacrificial—utterly devoted and yet the seed of the kind
of wider and selfless love demonstrated by the Great Teacher, the Christ.
As if the Sun/Neptune emphasis were not enough, sixth ray Mars is conjunct
second ray Jupiter in Pisces (a sign which transmits both the sixth
and second rays). Mars is strengthened, (just as Neptune
was) because it is the exoteric ruler of the Sun Sign. The Mars/Jupiter
conjunction gives great enthusiasm and a strong solar-plexus/heart interplay;
it is found conjunct the Pisces Descendant. This second conjunction
places a tremendous emphasis upon the dynamics of relationship, bringing
romantic passion (Mars in Pisces) and compassionate, selfless wisdom
(Jupiter in Pisces). Interestingly, Chiron, like Jupiter, is almost
exactly conjunct the Descendant, showing that there is a deep wound
in the field of relationship, but that, through love and selfless devotion
(Jupiter, Mars and Neptune), it can be healed. Even
further stress in and emphasis upon relationship can be seen by the
conjunction between conscientious Saturn and Juno (the asteroid of partnership).
The Moon in Cancer gives that tenacity in devotion which remembers always
and will not release. It is important to realize that an artist will
work through his own psychological issues through the medium of his
creations. A similar instance is the work of Cervantes in the love story,
Don Quixote.

Whether or not the original and real-life Cyrano led a life resembling
the literary Cyrano, he too was an ardent and enthusiastic lover (Mars
in Aries almost exactly conjunct Venus, and the Moon in Aries conjunct
Jupiter). The date of his birth is known, and a reasonable but speculative
rectification places ardent Leo on the Ascendant, emphasizing the importance
of the Sun in romantic Pisces—the sign in which Rostand’s
Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Chiron are found. The deadliness of
the actual Cyrano’s blade would be
indicated by Pluto at the MC, and his poetry by Neptune in the third
house of communication—a

Neptune
given added weight because it is the veiled esoteric ruler of his speculative
Ascendant Leo. Further, romantic, sixth ray Neptune
would be in the sign of relationship and marriage, Libra. Both men—Rostand
and the real Cyrano—would then have Neptune (with
its emphasis on selfless love) as the veiled esoteric ruler of the Ascendant.
As an interesting side note, the “Uranian Planet” Hades (23º Taurus),
which can indicate ugliness or deformity, is, in the speculative chart
of the real Cyrano exactly square to his relationship axis at 23º Leo/Aquarius.
Further, just as in the case of Rostand, the
real Cyrano would have wounding Chiron in the seventh house of relationship.
These are interesting potential parallels.

In the life of Edmond Rostand, although the poetic fourth ray would be of importance,
and has conduits through the Taurus planets (Venus and Pluto) and the
Sagittarius planet (Saturn), the sixth ray is of overpowering importance.
Each of the three signs conveying this ray is strongly represented in
Rostand’s chart—the Virgo Ascendant, the Sagittarian Saturn,
and the Piscean Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Chiron.

Combining the testimony of the chart with the play and character upon
which his reputation rests, one might say that the purpose of the incarnation
was to develop and nurture the germ of Christ-love through the garnered
wisdom of sacrificial, devoted, painful, personal love.

I
fall back dazzled at beholding myself all rosy red,
At having, I myself, caused the sun to rise.

A kiss, when
all is said, what is it? A rosy dot placed on the 'I' in loving; Tis
a secret told to the mouth instead of to the ear.

"A few
great minds are enough to endow humanity with monstrous power, but a
few great hearts are not enough to make us worthy of using it."
(Venus & Pluto in Taurus.)

A large nose
is in fact the sign of an affable man, good, courteous, witty, liberal,
courageous, such as I am.

My pessimism
goes to the point of suspecting the sincerity of the pessimists.

Rostand is associated
with neo-romanticism, and is best-known for his play Cyrano de Bergerac.
Rostand's romantic plays provided an alternative to the naturalistic
theatre popular during the late 19th century. One of Rostand's works,
The Romancers, has been adapted as the highly successful musical comedy
The Fantasticks.

Edmond Rostand was
born in Marseille, France, into a wealthy and cultured Provençal
family. His father was an economist and a poet, a member of the Marseille
Academy and the Institut de France. Rostand studied literature, history,
and philosophy at the Collège Stanislas in Paris, France. In
1910, Rostand became the youngest writer to be elected to the Académie
française.

In the 1900s, Rostand
came to live in the Villa Arnaga in Cambo-les-Bains in the French Basque
Country looking for a cure for his pleurisy. The house is now a heritage
site and a museum of Rostand's life and Basque architecture and crafts.
Rostand died in 1918, a victim of the Great Flu Epidemic, and is buried
in the Cimetiere de Marseille.

VSK: Could it be of note, in hinting to the Cyrano
nose, that Rostand's Mercury, exoteric ruler of his rising sign, is
at greatest elongation (28 degrees) in advance of his Aretian Sun?